In order for your proposal to be officially accepted by the Beretta Fest Committee, you need to abide by a few ground rules to keep this as simple as possible for everyone involved. Plus, the better organized the proposal, the better chance it has to win!

Local help: It is a REQUIREMENT that you're going to be the one traveling to this location to personally scout it, OR the area has local planners willing to help. We would hope that if you are proposing a site that you would be the obvious choice for doing the scouting at this location... just don't shout out a place if you aren't willing to back it up. If your proposal is accepted, you MUST be willing to fully plan this event and if needed, although the Bfest Committee will be intimately involved in the process and handling several aspects on your behalf. During the planning process you will be asked to scout different sites in the area so you should already be familiar with it before submitting the proposal.

Reasonable Distance: Based on experience, the Committee recommends not proposing a location too far from your home or more than a reasonable distance for you to travel to plan the event in advance. Everyone’s opinion on reasonable distance will differ, so we are leaving this judgement up to you. Remember you will be responsible to scout this location in order to find a suitable picnic area, as well as scout the hotels in person to identify ones with sufficient parking and amenities for our group.

YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DIRECTIONS IF REQUIRED. At this point, we are primarily using GPS/Google Maps to get around, but if there are destinations that aren’t on the map yet, we’ll need to know how to get there, and you WILL be an integral part of this.

Presenting Proposals: Forum online submission will open up and run shortly after Bfest from the previous year ends (this is usually in August, but it may vary from year to year). Submissions will be accepted for a minimum of two weeks but up to one month. Proposers can bring additional material in person and display at Bfest and answer questions. Please post your submission to the BerettaFest section on the forum, once reviewed for content an Admin will approve that post and it will be listed publicly.

Voting: Bfest proposal voting will be held ONLINE ONLY. All voters will have to be a member of the forum to place their vote in polls that will be created for the event. No votes will be taken outside of the forum, ie: Facebook. Voting weight will be as it has been in previous years: 3 points for a 2+ year Bfest vet, 2 points for a 1 year Bfest vet, and 1 point for a person who has never attended. If five or more proposals are received there will be two rounds of voting; a primary vote to whittle down the submissions to two locations and then a final vote to decide the winner. Initial voting will open up after the proposal collection period has closed and run for a minimum of two weeks. The final vote will last 1 week, at which time the final location will be revealed. All voting sessions will be weighted the same as mentioned above.

HARD DEADLINES: The following are deadlines that need to be met within the committee and with the winning proposers. The committee is here to help AID you in planning the event and will handle specific aspects (detailed below), but YOU are primarily responsible for gathering all information in your proposal and making sure everything goes as you planned. If you need assistance while doing so feel free to ask. We are here to HELP you climb the mountain, we do not expect you to do it yourself BUT we are not going to do it all for you either.

Date range and Logo finalized by Oct. 1 so we can post it online. Typically the event lands on the last weekend in June, following Father’s Day. Shifting it back or forward a week or two normally isn't an issue, but please be conscience of any overlapping events in the area with ours (concerts, holidays, and other events can have a large impact on traffic, pricing and availability).

Park and Hotel set by New Year.

Registration opens by 2/1

The Proposal

Hotels: Your proposal needs to have background info about potential hotels in the area. Are there many to choose from? What is the price range? You could go a step further and get group price rates, scout out parking, trailering has become more common so checking for availability to store tow dollies / trailers is required (overflow parking is normally where these go), and see if the neighborhood is nice (although the Bfest committee will handle most of this with you after it’s picked). YOU MUST NOT INCLUDE SPECIFIC HOTEL INFO IN THE PROPOSAL . Keep your info "generic" if you have selected a specific hotel location so that the hotel identity and group rate options can be kept confidential until the individuals register to attend Beretta Fest. Should your proposal include alternative accommodation options (such as camping), that is no problem however, please be sure to do your research on a hotel as well as it is a requirement for the event (and making those two locations as close as possible would be best).

Activities: Look for things that we could tour as a group. Is there a car plant nearby? Big accessory shop or performance parts shop (GM Heritage Center, Comp Cams, Extrude Hone, Petty Motorsports)?? Or just something that a variety of people will enjoy (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Tour). Keep the options open! Also, look for things more specific that people could do in their free time. Is there a touristy area that would be fun to visit? Theme parks? Zoo? It is a good idea to keep this broad as well.

Optional Racing: Since our group is about 70/30 on drag racing, it is still a worthwhile activity to have mapped out. Look into tracks, prices, drive time, etc. Another thing to look at is other racing/driving opportunities. In past Bfests we have road rallied, rented a road course, and auto-crossed as well. Auto-crossing is a great alternative to drag racing. Look into possible auto-x groups that would run events and talk to the organizers. Perhaps we could get an event set up for our weekend. Should your proposal include a racing option, please be sure to include an alternate “family” schedule that people who are not interested in a racing event can attend – this is requirement for the event.

Tentative Schedule: The proposal must include a tentative schedule based on the usual Wednesday through Sunday format we have been running for the last few years. Wednesday night is Taco Night, a Bfest tradition so don’t plan anything else on that night. Thursday afternoon is always registration as well. Feel free to look at prior year’s itinerarys to see the general layout of the event. Typical BFest weekend is the weekend following Fathers Day. In past years it has also been pushed back one week to accommodate local events or other conflicts and will be adjusted as necessary in the future.

Planning once event is chosen

Hotels: The Bfest committee will elect a member to work directly with the chosen hotel to make sure it conforms to the event’s needs. This person will make sure it has everything needed to accommodate a group of our size as well as any “special needs” and get the best deal possible for the group. Items such as mini-fridges and a pool are great ammenities.

Activities: The Bfest committee will elect a member to work directly with any group activities that are on the proposal to make sure the venue has everything needed to accommodate a group of our size and needs, and to make sure we get the best discount possible.

Everything Else: It is the winning proposers responsibility to handle all other aspects of the event, or coordinate handing them with the committee. Remember, this is your proposal and your plan. You did all the scouting and know the location better than anyone else on the committee and it will require your intimate involvement and leadership to make it a success for all!

Unlike past years, we’ve decided moving forward that the Committee will have more direct involvement with several aspects of the planning. This is to help make sure we don’t overload the local contact and make sure all of the deadlines are met on time. If you have any questions about the rules listed above or need any further clarification on how the committee is involved with the event, please PM me.